GURPS Shadowrun

[Godogma]

Alright, Shadowrun is pretty much TL9 ... however there are several TL10 items in amongst the others and I'm needing an adequate method of simulating Dikoting.

Here is the text from the Shadowrun 3e Man and Machine book; I'd like to figure out how to make it work in GURPS.

Dikote is a process that places a thin diamond film on the surface of any solid surface. The diamond film imparts more structural strength and resilience. Dikoted surfaces are smooth and relatively frictionless, conduct heat well and can be modified to conduct electricity.

Not everything can be glazed with Dikote. The item treated must be able to withstand the heat generated by the plasma used in the glazing process. Cloth and plastic cannot be treated by the process, though ceramics and most metals can.

Game Effects: Dikoting a surface adds 2 to the barrier rating and +1 to any ballistic and impact armor. If used to coat a vehicle or drone it adds +1 to the vehicle's body and armor ratings; it takes up no CF.

When dikote is used to coat a melee, throwing or projectile weapon add +1 to the Power of any attack with the treated weapon. If applied to an edged instrument such as a sword the weapons Damage level is also increased by one. For example, a sword that is normally (STR+2)M, would have (STR+3)S if Dikoted.

Barriers use their normal ratings against Dikoted melee weapons (as opposed to the usual double ratings used vs melee attacks).

Dikoting costs 1000 nuyen per 100 square centimeters (minimum 1000 nuyen cost).

[Juca]

Well, in Shadowrun rules dikoting is soo overpower that it was ruled out in 4th edition. In Gurps I would rule that weapons coated in it are considered very fine weapons. As for armors, maybe consider then spaced armor?

[Celjabba]

The technology is current.
Shadowrun implementation, however, is beyond cinematic.

If i remenber correctly, a troll with a dikoted katana or, worse, dikoted battle-arrows and a compound bow could cut through medium armored vehicles like butter...

In gurps,
a realistic approach would be +1 damage to edged weapon,
and Dikoted mechanics would reduce their malf number.
All dikoted gear would become easier to clean, and may perhaps gain +1dr versus heat/electricity.

For a cinematic approach closer to Shadowruun, I would rule that dikoted armor gain one level of hardened, and dikoted weapons gain one level of armor divisor.

Hope this help

Celjabba

Edit: As suggested above, treating dikoted gear as very fine is probably the best option.

[Godogma]

4th Edition Shadowrun is also distinctly NOT Shadowrun, it doesn't have the same feel it had when FASA owned the game or anything else that actually attracts me as a player or GM - I view the whole thing with intense dislike.

Yes the implementation in SR 3e was definitely cinematic, but the whole world was that way so there's really nothing against it for that. But a game that distinctly resets the entire technology base that was used in the original timeline and system then reworks it for full line simsense/decking on Wireless waves? Doesn't make any sense. Radio waves just don't have the necessary bandwidth to run that sort of thing across.

But this isn't a SR forum and I'm not getting into that old argument.

[NineDaysDead]

Superfine Blade? Ultra-tech page 163

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by Godogma

4th Edition Shadowrun is also distinctly NOT Shadowrun, it doesn't have the same feel it had when FASA owned the game or anything else that actually attracts me as a player or GM - I view the whole thing with intense dislike.

Yes the implementation in SR 3e was definitely cinematic, but the whole world was that way so there's really nothing against it for that. But a game that distinctly resets the entire technology base that was used in the original timeline and system then reworks it for full line simsense/decking on Wireless waves? Doesn't make any sense. Radio waves just don't have the necessary bandwidth to run that sort of thing across.

But this isn't a SR forum and I'm not getting into that old argument.

Not to debate a matter of opinion, but the decking update was the one 4e thing that my group insisted that I include in my GURPS mostly-3e-Shadowrun conversion. We don't care if it makes sense in technological terms, because 1) we're talking about a setting with widespread magic and a few examples of TL 9^ here, and 2) we think it's more fun if the decker PC is running around risking his neck and acting concurrently with the other PCs.

Originally Posted by NineDaysDead

Superfine Blade? Ultra-tech page 163

That's what I'd do.

[sn0wball]

Originally Posted by Godogma

Yes the implementation in SR 3e was definitely cinematic, but the whole world was that way so there's really nothing against it for that. But a game that distinctly resets the entire technology base that was used in the original timeline and system then reworks it for full line simsense/decking on Wireless waves? Doesn't make any sense. Radio waves just don't have the necessary bandwidth to run that sort of thing across.

By the way, how do you represent Shadowrun-style decing in GURPS ?

[OldSam]

Originally Posted by sn0wball

By the way, how do you represent Shadowrun-style decing in GURPS ?

Do you mean "decking"?

If so, I guess the new hacking-/netrunning-rules from "Pyramid #3/21: Cyberpunk" would probably be a good solution...
Though, I didn't try them yet (only read the description) - but maybe someone else can say if these are well suited for Shadowrun?

[CousinX]

Originally Posted by Godogma

4th Edition Shadowrun is also distinctly NOT Shadowrun, it doesn't have the same feel it had when FASA owned the game or anything else that actually attracts me as a player or GM - I view the whole thing with intense dislike.

No joke. What is it with 4th editions of RPGs? I mean, I'm no fan of the d20 system, but at least it resembled the D&D of Olde ... 4th edition D&D resembles nothing so much as PnP WoW.

GURPS 4 is the only 4th edition that springs to mind which actually improved the system in question.

[Crakkerjakk]

You have a couple options with decking. One is to use the standard rules (like those in the Cyberpunk Pyramid issue). This is nice and familiar, and is pretty easy to comprehend. The other way to do it is from a Powers standpoint.

I don't know about anyone else, but one problem I always had in my SR games was that being a decker was relatively low-cost. So while a dedicated decker would be better than a street sam or rigger who decked on the side, they wouldn't be THAT much better.

While I was looking at how Kelly created the astral perception and astral projection abilities for mages, a thought occurred to me. The astral plane and the matrix share a lot of similarities. Both contain incorporeal entities, allow you to visit distant places without moving you body, etc. That got me thinking about all the other similarities. Mages have spirits, deckers have agents, IC, sprites, etc. Mages have spells, deckers have programs. Really, the only real difference is that spirits can directly manifest while agents need to possess a mechanical form to operate in the physical world, and similarly mages can cast spells that directly alter reality, while deckers can only use mechanical stuff to affect reality.

So that's when I hit upon the idea to treat deckers a lot like mages. They buy their cyberdecks as gadget-based powers, they use Ritual Magic rules centered around Hacking, Programming, Research, Brainwashing, ElecOps(Sensors), and ElecOps(EWar) for programs.

If your players are absolutely wed to the idea "Anyone who has a computer wired to their mind can do this" you may get some cognitive dissonance, but the nice thing about it is that it makes being a decker about as resource intensive as being a mage. Thus you get the decker as a seperate archetype from street sam, face, adept, mage, etc, not only thematically but mechanically as well.